


Mermaid Tales

by QueenPotatos



Category: Free!
Genre: Depression, I'll maybe add the rinharu tag for the last chapter I'm not sure yet, Lonely kids, M/M, angst with happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 12:24:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15796467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenPotatos/pseuds/QueenPotatos
Summary: 4 Tales, 4 Mermaids, 4 Princes, 4 Boys.Hiyori, Ikuya, Haruka and Rin.The story repeats itself but it's never the same.Set after episode 7





	Mermaid Tales

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a pretext to write about my new sad son I needed to get it out of my chest. Id like to write the other chapters before posting but I'm too scared of the next episode so I'll post it while I can !

* * *

 

## HIYORI

.

 

It’s amazing how everything disappears the moment his fingers hit the pool. It has always felt that way, since his prime childhood, since he realized that he was alone, always; but it didn’t matter when he was in the water.

It’s the only place it does not matter.

Hiyori took a lot of energy to be exactly what others wanted to see in him when he was younger, especially his parents. Was it because he wanted to make them proud? Because it was easier? Because it gave him a purpose, he who was always alone, a goal no one ever care to give him?

The water never asked him anything. She never expected anything from him. She accepted him for who he was and still does, the same way through the years like a loving mother does. When Hiyori swims he doesn’t have to fake a smile or hide his feelings, they stream out of his limbs and make him go forward, always faster, leaving his mind blank of any dark thoughts he could have.

Today is tough; his fight with Ikuya couldn’t have occurred on a worse timing. He almost false starts because of it but as soon as his fingers hit the water…

He’s free from his grip. Ikuya, his words, his venom stream from his heart and dissolve in the pool. Cured, Hiyori swims ahead of everyone, his arms moving smoothly, naturally in the water-

_‘You’re good at swimming’_

A smile, a lost memory.

_‘Let’s swim together!’_

His first honest smile…

Dammit! He’s losing it. There’s someone catching on him, if he doesn’t focus he’ll…

It’s a tie. A hopeful tie.  It could have been worse. Hiyori curses, he needs to be more careful. The water isn’t enough to calm his nerve after what happened.

 

“Tonoo! You did well!”

A fake smile, “Thanks,” he says, trying to be convincing, but he doesn’t mean it.

Hiyori is so tired of lying. The only one he was always sincere was Ikuya, and he doesn’t want to talk to him right now. The worse is that he doesn’t have any idea of how he can turn the tables. What it the situation remains this way forever? How could he cope with this?

Hiyori sighs. He knows some of his teammates are worried about them both but don’t dare to ask after the cold shower Ikuya gave him. They are looking at him right now, expectantly, waiting to see a smile from someone who had just won his race and a ticket for All Japan only to find…nothing.

Sometimes Hiyori swims at night and he doesn’t recognize himself in the water. Sometimes he dreams of a tail and wakes up with a start before his body completely turns into foam. There’s something wrong with him, he knows that, but the more he thinks about it the worse it gets, because he doesn’t have anyone he can talk about this with.

“Ah, it’s the individual medley.”

“Tonoo, aren’t you watching? It’s Ikuya’s race!”

Another fake smile. “Of course! I wouldn’t miss that.” This one aches, more than the others. It used to be easy to lie.

It’s never going to be easy again.

Hiyori can’t believe his eyes.

“Hey, what is Nanase doing in the individual medley?”

He’s glad no one heard him gasp, too busy being stunned by Nanase. Nanase, Nanase, Nanase is everywhere, on everyone’s lips, in Ikuya’s heart, in Hiyori’s mind flooding like a poison in his veins. What is he doing? What does he want to achieve? Breaking Ikuya more than he did already? If Hiyori could he would jump in the pool and punch him in the face.

By the time the race starts he knows he is not smiling anymore. His whole body is paralyzed, his breath stuck in his lungs. It’s like Nanase put a spell on him, forcing him to watch Ikuya fail against him. With his condition, his last times, there’s no way…

Except he doesn’t.

Except Ikuya is behind until he joins him in the middle of the butterfly leg. They tie in the free and Haru wins but not by far; Ikuya hits the wall a second later and they both achieve to beat the time needed to race in All Japan.

Hiyori can’t believe it. He’s still stupefied by what just happened to the point where he is not happy or angry or anything, he’s still trying to figure out if what he just saw was real or not.

“You were right after all! Ikuya was just stressed, it seems the real race revived him!” their coach says.

The words sink in. Yes, indeed he is revived, anew; he smiles and talks with Nanase, who helps him out of the pool. Hiyori thinks he turns his way shyly and waves at him, but that too, he can’t tell if it’s a trick or true.

 

Ikuya doesn’t join them until the end of the tournament. He chooses to stay with his old teammate and his brother – Natsuya sends him a text, even asks him to join them. How cruel.

Hiyori is the last one to get off of the shower.

Ikuya is back, and he has nothing to do with it.

He sits in the shower room, let the water fall on his face and hair way after he’s finished. He knows he should be happy from the bottom of his heart, thankful that Nanase against all odds saved Ikuya from his old demons and part of his heart is glad, truly. But most of it…it’s crying. The tears fall on their own without Hiyori’s blessing and follow the drops of water that come from the faucet. Why does it have to be this way? How good is he if he couldn’t help his only friend? What’s his purpose if he failed the only mission he gave himself?

 

“Tonoo, are you okay?” He had cried so much it’s not a surprise people noticed. It’s kind of heart-warming in a way; people notice him. He is not totally alone and invisible.

“Yes! I’m just very happy about my race and Ikuya’s.” It turns out it’s easy to say because it’s not totally a lie. “I didn’t expect it.”

He envies all those people who can smile so easily without betraying their thoughts. Everyone seems so happy. He can’t get along. His heart is too tired to get along.

Before he realizes his eyes are scanning the area in search of Ikuya. He bites his lips; a bad habit, but those are always hard to kill. A wave of anxiety hits his chest suddenly. What will happen with them now? What will Ikuya say to him? How a fool he was to try to make him forget about Nanase?

He stops looking for him. His heart is weak. He needs to go home.

 

He’s buying a drink when he recognizes some of Nanase’s teammates going in his direction. He hurries and hides behind a building without really thinking of why he does that – or maybe he knows, but is too embarrassed and chooses to lie to himself instead. His heart skips a bit when they mention Ikuya and he knows at that moment that he is doomed, despite everything.

The first one is the swimmer who tied with him in the 50 metre free; the second is the one who swam the backstroke with, the third one he had never seen before. He is not wearing a jacket, he doesn’t look built like a swimmer.

“Ah! I’m so glad you all beat the times! So what is next?”

“All Japan!” His name is Asahi, Hiyori recalls. “I can’t wait to see the other swimmers…Makoto, why are you smiling suddenly?”

“Oh, it’s a text I received from a friend oversea. He qualified too for the 100 metre free and butterfly!”

“Are you talking about Rin?”

Who is this one again?

“Rin? The name rings a bell…you know him, Kisumi?”

“Yes, we were in elementary school together with Sousuke. It’s good news! I bet Haru is going to be so happy.”

“Yes…let’s go and join the others. Today was really a good day. I’m happy we got to talk with Ikuya again.”

“Well it’s easy to talk to him when he doesn’t have that jerk following him around.”

Hiyori figures they are talking about him; it hurts but he can’t blame them, he did play that role to protect Ikuya.

“We haven’t seen him after your race by the way, I suspected he would have rushed to Ikuya’s side after his race with Haru.” They voice are getting further away as the group walks back to the swimming pool.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you.” Asahi says after opening his can and taking a sip. “Ikuya told me he was a nice guy, but I got the impression that they aren’t that close.”

Hiyori gets out of his hiding place as if he had been stunk by a bee. What? Why would he think that? He’s his best friend.

“See,” Hiyori can only watch at their backs, “Ikuya told me that-“

The ground doesn’t seem so solid when the words come out of his mouth. Hiyori sees the lips move, hears the words but cannot understand them. The floor turns into a bottomless pool and he falls with all his clothes on and sports bag, deeper and deeper; he tried to swim back to the surface but a hand made of water grasps his ankle. Hiyori looks above, waiting for a hand to come and rescue him.

But no one comes. He is all alone with the water, claiming him back now that the prince chose someone else.

It’s okay, he thinks, it’s okay. He was tired of lying anyway.

Hiyori keeps drowning, the hand from the abyss pulls him down as his body dissolves in the water as he turns into foam.

When he wakes up the tears are still running down the side of his head to his ears. He never thought things could be worse. He wonders why he even bothers to wake up. It’s been days, he had rarely eaten anything, his phone is long out of battery, he hadn’t washed himself since the race.

Maybe he could have a bath.

Maybe the water will help him find the answer, or take him back in the abyss.

Hiyori runs the faucet and listen to the sound of water coming out and hitting the bathtub. His mind is blank by now. He doesn’t need the water anymore to make him forget about the pain or about Ikuya because all his thoughts escaped when his tears had dried. Now it’s just like in the beginning, the water and him, alone, but never lonely. Him and himself, ready to enter his bath, waiting for something to happen or for his limbs to turn into foam.

 

 

_‘-he is not really his friend.’_

Hiyori is sure a day will come when it wouldn’t hurt.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Talk Hiyori to meeee


End file.
